


Shattered, Healed

by AlternativeRealities



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, Author has writer's block, Crossroads of Destiny AU, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode: s02e20 The Crossroads of Destiny, Eventual Katara/Zuko (Avatar), F/M, Flashbacks, Hurt/Comfort, Katara cries her heart out into Zuko's arms, Katara likes Zuko's eyes, Momo watches Zuko comfort Katara, Panic Attacks, Past Aang/Katara (Avatar), Protective Zuko (Avatar), Traumatized Katara, Zuko betrays Katara, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, Zutara, Zutara Month, Zutara aangst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:48:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26503900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlternativeRealities/pseuds/AlternativeRealities
Summary: Zuko betrays Katara. We all know that. But what if the battle under Ba Sing Se had gone differently? A flashback causes Zuko to switch sides during the battle- with devastating results. An AU with eventual Zutara. (Is on fanfiction.net too: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13629021/1/Shattered-Healed) (Am also experiencing writer's block help)
Relationships: Iroh & Zuko (Avatar), Katara & Zuko (Avatar), Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 66





	1. An Epiphany

_"I thought you had changed!"_

_"I have changed."_

As his fire met her water, as they battled, steam filled the vast cavern. Rage coursed through Katara. She had placed all her faith, all her trust, _put aside her mother for him_ , and yet he still attacked them. Still sided with his sister. _Betrayed her_. In the corner of her vision, she saw Aang charge at Azula. Of course, he thought she'd fight honorably. She shoots off a blast of fire, sending Aang flying into the crystalline walls of this impromptu arena.

It took the reflexes of a warrior, of someone who had seen far too much war to stop Azula's next blast of fire. Her ice shields were rapidly depleting- too quickly for her to maintain them, especially now that Zuko was concentrating his flame in unison with his sister, both intent on destroying Katara's defenses.

As the last of the ice melts away, Katara desperately feels for the remaining liquid in her waterskin, but it's too late. Azula's blast lifts her off the ground and slams her into the wall of crystals- mercifully knocking her out.

Zuko ceased his attack immediately, pausing. His uncle's words rang in his ears. Words of redemption, and how it would never come from his father, nor from his sister. Of looking into his heart. But how could Zuko believe Iroh? How, when Azula offered his honor, and the long-neglected desire for _love_. And it was right in front of him. He looked at Aang as he pushed himself off of the crystal wall, tendrils of guilt creeping up his spine. But Katara. _She... She gave me acceptance. And it was... sincere. She was going to heal me. My scar..._

His thoughts were interrupted when he noticed the wave of earth that Aang had produced coming right at him. He used his firebending to propel himself, like a rocket, off of the ground, dodging the attack. As he touched down once more, he saw the Dai Li surround them, cornering Katara and Aang. He saw that the waterbender had regained consciousness. The girl gazed at him. It was a look of pure pain, mixed with raw fury. Zuko averted his eyes from Katara, opting to focus on Aang, who had taken to creating some sort of crystalline shelter. As he enters what appears to be a meditative state, his tattoos glow.

At this exact moment, Iroh's words ring in his ears once more. _"Zuko! Look into your heart, find the truth within!"_ It couldn't have been more than a few seconds, but he saw all his decisions come before him. The decision to challenge the general's plan, to accept the Agni Kai. The decision to beg for mercy from an unrepentant, cruel father ( _cruel_ ). The decision to hunt for the Avatar, to attack the Southern Water Tribe.

The memories seemed to flash quicker now. Him deciding not to rob a young couple with a pregnant woman, even on the brink of starvation. Him letting the Avatar's bison free. The decision to save Aang from Zhao, the decision to befriend Jet, and then... his decision to trust Katara, even for a moment. He felt so... _accepted. Appreciated. Loved_. The cacophony of voices and visions filled his head, materializing once more into Iroh's booming voice: _"You have the answers within. Follow your_ heart."

And so he did. And his heart presented him with one ultimate conclusion, one option, one _solution_ to his plight: _Stop Azula._

He hadn't even seen Azula aim her fingers at a floating Aang, he just _knew_. As he lunged to the right, a blast of fire just beginning to form on his fingertips, Azula fired her lightning. At this very moment, his burning palm collided with her shoulder, sending her strike slightly off-center.

Not enough.

As Katara watched the brilliant whitish-blue begin to exit Azula's fingertips, she watched the blur that was Zuko knock Azula to the side. His face was contorted into some sort of mix of realization, fear, guilt, and _determination_. As Azula registered this sudden betrayal (he had betrayed Katara, and now his sister. But had he really betrayed her? Katara could only wonder), the lightning struck the side of Aang's stomach, lighting him up in a beautiful, but somehow hellish display of sheer electrical power. As Aang convulsed and fell back to earth, a few things registered for her. One, Aang had just been struck by lightning _in the Avatar State_. Two, Zuko's last-second action had sent the trajectory of the bolt off of Aang's chest, and into his stomach. Three, _Zuko was on their side. Right?_

Her answer came in the form of a firebending kick directed not at Katara, but at the Dai Li. She shifted her vision from Aang, who was motionless on the ground, and to Zuko, who had managed this feat of bending while simultaneously struggling with Azula. But this action would cost him. Azula, fully registering her brother's betrayal, had unleashed a funnel of fire at him. Zuko held his own, but felt himself slipping backwards- she was just too powerful. In his peripheral vision, he saw Katara use an octopus bending form to unleash an enormous wave against the remaining Dai Li, knocking them out of the fight. Zuko somehow felt elated by this, and pushed harder against his sister, his flames intensifying, brightening. He could have sworn he'd seen a glint of blue appear within the shimmering mass of plasma. He felt as if all his decisions leading up to this moment were irrelevant, just a side act in comparison to the realization he'd just made. _She'd shown him friendship. And he would have betrayed her._ _Betrayed Uncle. Betrayed Mother._ As his thoughts continued down this vein of contemplation, reality seemed to slowly ebb away. A plethora of visions began flashing before his very eyes.

_I'll save you from the pirates._

_My honor. My throne. My country. I'm about to lose them all._

He hadn't even noticed his bending die out, as he lost sight of Azula, shifting his focus into the dark, mangled, broken mind of his that he had just found a way to heal. He faintly registered the flash of light that seemed to draw closer and closer to him, but he didn't care about that. All he saw were two pairs of eyes. One a vivid cerulean blue, another a shimmering amber. As he imagined the acceptance shown by his mother, and now... Katara, he simply froze, like a hippo-deer caught in the path of a ball of flame.

All Katara knew was her instinct to save. As Aang began to twitch on the ground ( _he's not dead_ ), she saw Azula train her fingertips on Zuko. Realizing with horror that Zuko was about to be smited by his sister, she charged forth, lunging as the second bolt of lightning left Azula's frame. She didn't take into account that Zuko had only betrayed her mere minutes earlier, or that he had chased them around the world for months. All she knew was that Zuko, in this moment, was a friend. And that's all it took for her to put herself in the path of lightning bolt aimed at Zuko's heart. Her world turned white the moment it contacted her body.

* * *

Zuko was sent out of his trance by the weight of Katara's body slamming into his, the bolt having dissipated just as soon as it had materialized. As they both tumbled backwards, Zuko moved to protect Katara's body. As she convulsed under his own frame, he realized what had happened. In that moment, he lost self-control. _Azula promised me acceptance... and she's ripped from me the one person I have who's offered it to me. Azula always lies... Azula always lies... Azula... ALWAYS LIES._

It seems rather fitting that Zuko wouldn't remember himself generating lightning for the very first time. That it would be generated in a fit of passion, rather than the cold precision that powered Azula's bolts. What he did register however was Azula's face of pure shock, as his lightning hit her own fingertips, her struggle to redirect this new form of lightning, one powered by rage, not cold malice. As Azula redirected the lightning, he made sure to force her to redirect it in another direction, away from him, by twisting his fingertips to the left.

As this struggle between the two siblings took place, Katara stopped convulsing, her breathing miraculously still present, but faint. The lightning strike hadn't delivered instant death only because of the thin water layer that all waterbenders possessed, providing a degree of protection against firebenders. Even so, the strike had critically wounded her, and she remained unconscious, a scorched scar having developed on her left arm and trailing onto her torso She laid sprawled out on the cavern's floor. Some 20 feet from her lay Aang, who was just now beginning to regain consciousness. The strike hadn't channeled directly to his heart, and thus, he remained alive. Being the Avatar helped his changes of waking up. As he slowly crawled to his feet, he saw Katara laying motionless, seemingly dead. To her left he saw Zuko fighting against... Azula!? Both were fighting with fire whips, with the occasional flaming daggers being summoned forth in an attempt to decapitate one another.

At that moment Appa appears, with Toph and Sokka in the saddle. He recalled the meditation, how he had let Katara go. Let her go... and he had survived lightning. Turning to see Katara lying on the ground, tears welled up in his eyes, as his weak frame shuddered. _She was... dead?_ He couldn't believe it, but yet his eyes refused to show him any other truth. Summoning all of his strength, he got off the ground, and looked down at his stomach, seeing the devastating scar that had manifested itself. With an excruciating level of effort, and an unholy level of pain, he airbended himself to the saddle, promptly collapsing once making contact with Toph, against whom he laid his weight. He lay there dazed, hearing Sokka's wails of grief, as he presumably saw his sister, and seeing Toph's pale face, as she took in the horrific scene. He felt Sokka's weight leave the saddle, followed immediately by Toph's. He was weak... _so weak_. He heard a distant shout, the distinct sound of earth being sent forth by Toph. Through out this, Appa was panicking, narrowly avoiding what he assumed were blasts of fire. _I want to help_ Aang thought to himself. _But I'm so... weak_.

He didn't know how long had passed, all he knew was that Sokka and Toph had returned to the saddle, with Katara absent. That confirmed his fears for him. With that, he drifted off into the welcoming abyss of unconsciousness. The last thing he could remember was Sokka's pained 'yip yip', and them lifting off without Katara. The Avatar Cycle would live on for now... but at what cost?

* * *

Zuko and Azula were locked in an equal match of wills. At this point, both were motivated by rage. Both motivated by betrayal. It seemed hopeless, as the two benders appeared to be destined to wear each other out, perhaps kill each other through exhaustion. After the water tribe boy and earthbending girl had gotten off the saddle, Azula had directed blasts at both Zuko and the other two teenagers. He had attempted to coordinate with the earthbender, with both Zuko and the girl sending waves of fire and earth respectively at Azula. But it was hopeless. It seemed as if Azula had ascended to a level of bending prowess unattainable by either of the two other benders. When Azula had sent her fire blast at the water tribe boy, the girl sent out a plate of rock from the ground, blocking the attack. Realizing their situation, and unable to get to Katara (who was still laying on the ground behind Zuko), they had retreated. As he saw the bison leave, he realized the gravity of his situation. Alone. Cornered. He intensified his pillar of flame, knowing that he was now fighting for his and Katara's life, _when had he started caring like that?_ Just as he began to feel his control slip again, a tremendous blast of fire came from one of the faces of the crystal walls, jutting out forth between Zuko and Azula's opposing plasma pillars, making them dissipate. They both looked at the same time to see Iroh, both of his hands consumed in vivid balls of flame.

"Zuko!" he called. "Escape with the girl while you can, I'll hold off your sister!" At this, Zuko's indecision slipped away. Before Azula had a chance to fire off a ball of fire that she was aiming at her brother, she was forced to defend herself against Iroh. Watching his uncle push Azula back with his flames, he knew that the moniker 'Dragon of the West' was a fitting one. He sprinted to Katara, his heart quickening upon seeing the condition she was in. _No no no no, don't be dead, don't be dead, don't leave me like Mother_ Zuko thought as he got down on his knees before her. Guilt seized him, as he realized that _he_ had led this to happen. If only he had sided with Katara and the Avatar, maybe she wouldn't be like this. On the verge of death, Zuko decided, as his fingertips were gently pressed against her neck, her pulse faint. As his alabaster, callused fingertips met the soft, brown flesh, a surge of protectiveness shot through him. He felt the heat behind him intensify, as his uncle fought with Azula. He quickly turned his head, but saw Iroh being pushed back slowly, his pillar of fire being edged further and further back by Azula's unrelenting blue plasma. "Just go!" Iroh yelled with a finality that spurred him into action. He gently but quickly scooped the limp girl into his arms. He looked around, seeing the burn marks, abrasions, sheets of ice, and the motionless bodies of dozens of Dai Li members strewn around the cavern, evidence of this battle. He found the opening through which he initially entered the cavern from, and decided to make a run for it. As he made his way towards the entrance, he heard Azula's yells and shouts, screams for her 'cowardly brother' to return to the fray of war. He held confidence in Iroh, and could only hope that he prevailed against his sister He looked down at Katara's visage, taking in that pained look of hers. He would protect her, make up for his betrayal, his inaction, and his failures. Grunting, he went forth in a resolute manner.

As Iroh saw Zuko leave the cavern carrying the waterbending girl, he knew that he wouldn't see his nephew again in a long time- maybe ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, the first chapter's done. I know, I know, Toph and Sokka not being able to retrieve Katara might be considered OOC. But remember, Azula was all rage and fury- as opposed to her cold, calculating bending style.
> 
> I would appreciate any reviews that y'all could leave. As this is my first time, don't hold back with any criticism or other feedback that y'all might think I need lol


	2. Of Spirits and Reckoning

The shimmering green glow of the tunnel lit up Zuko and Katara. Her amulet of spirit water dangled from her neck. Perhaps just a few minutes prior Zuko would have pocketed such an item. Betraying the waterbender's trust wouldn't have mattered then. But now... Now was different. The strong, brave, compassionate, fearless Katara was dangling in his arms, teetering on the verge of entering the spirit world herself- permanently. He trudged on, feeling the heat subside from his back. He had deduced that Katara's healing abilities could be used on herself, and that if she were to be introduced to some pool or other body of water, perhaps some of the damage could be undone. But that was just a theory. Zuko realized then just how utterly _screwed_ him and Katara were. Wanted, alone, one facing death, the odds were certainly stacked against them. But he had to _try_. If nothing else, he owed _that_ to her.

He next encountered the cavern that him and Katara were initially trapped in. He paused here, leaning her frame against the crystalline wall. He took in her condition. Her skin, once vibrant, full of life, was already beginning to somewhat pale. This wasn't good. He next looked down her torso, ignoring the creeping feelings of self-consciousness and a sense of decency. Now was not the time for such concepts. He saw the scorched hole where the lightning had penetrated the fabric of her garb, and saw the dark red, charred flesh that was once her soft, smooth skin. In addition, her forearm had been marred and burnt in a similar fashion, striking welts and oozing blood dripping through the remnants of the blue fabric. He lifted his hand to her slumped chin, gently tapping her, trying to get some sort of reaction from her. No response. _This is bad_ , he thought. When he saw her head slump further forward however, and failed to hear her faint breathing, he realized that she was dying.

"No no, Katara, Katara! Stay with me!" he frantically shouted, shaking her lightly. Fear coursed through him. "I c-can't lose you! Katara, please!" he was shouting at this point, unconcerned as to the reach of his panicked voice. The admission he had just uttered, he would never had vocalized if the circumstances were not so dire. He felt his world begin to recede once more, the darkness being accompanied by visions of loss. His own sobs, his hyperventilation seemed to grow more distant and distant as his mother's face appeared, followed by his reflection in the mirror- one without a scar. As he struggled to think clearly, a soft voice whispered into his hear. _"Use the spirit water, Zuko."_ the feminine, seemingly young voice called out. _"Save her, for your sake."_ He turned to the direction the voice appeared to be coming from, only to see a shimmering, blinding white form. It reminded him of the moon's glow during those nights as a fugitive with his uncle. Realizing immediately who she was, he croaked out a reply: _"Thank you, Yue."_ The figure seemed to smile, her visage faintly showing, before he was drawn back to reality. The reality where Katara was succumbing to her injuries. He roughly tugged on the amulet, causing the thin cord to strain, and eventually snap. He moved Katara's body off of the wall and laid her onto the ground. He didn't hesitate to practically rip open the front of the water tribe garb, exposing her bare skin and underwrappings.

In another world, another time, perhaps, this would have been off-limits for Zuko. Off-limits for any sensible, honorable young man. But not now. Things like shame and modesty could wait. He removed the vial's cap, and held the mouth of the container to her scars. He opted to try to heal the more sensitive area, just above and left of her navel, instead of her scarred and bleeding forearm. He bit his bottom lip tightly, his skin having gone ashy white from the sheer trepidation of this moment. If he messed up... that was it. And he knew it. He held his right arm with his left hand in an attempt to ease the shaking. He allowed the spirit water to slowly pool upon her dark skin. He saw immediately that this water was special, how it clung to Katara's body, molded around the curve of her torso, rather than spilling off and onto the ground. He brought both of his hands to the water. Taking a shuddering breath, he began to rub the water into the wound, ignoring the blood and dead, charred skin tissue that caked his fingers and palms. He saw how the wound had channeled deep within her body. He allowed cupped the edges of the wound, concentrating the water on certain damaged or completely destroyed tissues. He doubted even his own scar immediately after being burned was this bad. It couldn't have been.

Then suddenly, the water began to shimmer brighter than it already had been. A white, ethereal glow emanated from the sacred liquid, and it seemed to push itself down into Katara's torso, the glowing light now enveloping her frame, and somewhat dazing Zuko. _Please, Agni, save_ _her,_ Zuko silently prayed. Slowly, that scrunched up, pained expression on Katara's face began to ease, loosen up. A strange hymn seemed to come from the water, which was now enveloping the damaged tissues, and beginning to regenerate them. Katara suddenly took a quick, stuttering breath. Zuko instinctively grabbed her right hand, squeezing gently. "Come on Katara..." he said in a low, hopeful tone. Then, the process hit its climax, as Katara briefly became lost in that ethereal, supernatural glow. Slowly, the glow ceased, and Zuko could see Katara once more. Lowering his eyes to her wound, he was stunned to find it had turned into a scar, a dark red, purplish, streaking mark that wrapped around the side of her stomach.

"Z-Zuko?" she called out. He trained his eyes upwards to her cerulean blues, which were just beginning to flutter open. "Yes." he responded simply, looking at her as if she was a rooster-rhino. "You're... alive." she said, breathing heavily. "Yeah." was all Zuko could say. He was lacking the vocabulary to adequately convey his emotions at this very moment. Katara's eyes moved to his hand, which clutched the empty amulet. Realizing with utter shock what Zuko had done, she clapped her hand over her mouth. "Zuko! Y-You... saved me..." was all she could manage, before Zuko had pulled her off of the floor, and brought her into a tight embrace. "I had to. A-After what you did for me..." Katara found this a sufficient answer. Once the adrenaline and shock began to wear off for her however, she hissed sharply. Zuko immediately pulled himself back from her, fearing he had done something wrong, or the healing had been interrupted or- then he saw it. Her left arm was still bleeding, though the clotting beneath the burned, charred skin tissue had somewhat curbed it. "I don't have any more spirit water..." Zuko said quietly. "That's okay... I just... need... something else. Another water source." she said weakly. Zuko stood up, helping here onto her feet. She wobbled dangerously, and Zuko had to press his hand to the small of her back to steady her. "Can you walk?" he asked urgently. "I could use some help, I guess." Katara admitted sheepishly. With that, Zuko wrapped his left arm over her shoulder, and allowed her to use her good arm to sling over his shoulder. Turning towards the entrance that Aang had originally used to enter the chamber, they began walking slowly but resolutely, Katara with a pronounced sluggishness and weakness.

"Where's Aang? And the others... what happened?" she asked suddenly, stopping as she looked at him, her eyes wide. "They, uh... they escaped. On the bison. We're here alone, still under Lake Laogai." Those sentences caused something to break within Katara. "They left... me... to die?" she whispered. It wasn't really a question, and Zuko's averted eyes told her everything she needed to know. It was as if a dam had broken, the tension that had built up just erupted out of her in the form of shuddering sobs. Her weak state (which Zuko was thankful for at this moment, much to his chagrin) dampened the severity of her crying, but it nevertheless hurt the same. Zuko instinctively moved closer to Katara, those protective urges from earlier having flared up once more. Katara pushed her head deep into Zuko's chest, taking solace in his warmth and guiding arms. She had never felt so isolated, so abandoned, betrayed... yet so protected, and cared for. The conflicting feelings tore at her insides, and her frame shook with ever quiet sob, thin streaks of tears absorbing into the fabric of Zuko's shirt. "Shhhh, I'm here, Katara. I'll be here, I won't leave, okay?" he whispered softly into her ear, hoping to placate her. "I'm so... so sorry for everything I've done." Zuko said in a pained tone, his voice cracking. At these words, the crying quieted, then ceased. A few moments passed in which Katara struggled, and managed to compose herself. She just gazed sadly into his soft, inviting amber irises, sniffling as she did so. "I know... I forgive you." Zuko managed a smile at this. Even though he felt he didn't deserve her forgiveness, he'd take an extended olive branch at face value. "Thank you." Zuko whispered back. He wasn't just thanking her for her forgiveness. He was thanking her for saving his life, for offering him unconditional acceptance when no one but his mother and uncle had ever done so. For giving him a second chance after he'd betrayed her. "You too, Zuko." Katara replied, offering a small, weak smile.

"Let's leave this prison." Zuko told her. "Alright..." Katara said quietly back. She took a deep breath, and they began to walk once more. The pathway that Aang had followed banked upwards, which meant that Zuko often had to lift Katara step by step- an excruciating process, but he ignored the growing discomfort. It was the least he could do for her, after having chased and attacked them for months now. As they went around a bend in the path, they were painted by the bright light of the sky above their subterranean pathway. Just then, Katara's head slumped forward a little, and her eyes closed. Zuko noticed this and was just about to freak out again when Katara spoke softly: "I just... need sleep... I'll walk." she murmured, her grip around his shoulder tightening slightly. He simply nodded, even though he knew she wouldn't be able to see that. They trudged forth, a plan slowly beginning to form in Zuko's head. He knew that no matter what they did, him ending up as a fugitive all over again would be the end result. At least this time Katara would be there with him, as opposed to his uncle. He'd have to nurse her back to health, he knew, but he didn't mind doing so.

Zuko didn't know what he felt for her. All he knew was that liked this feeling. It was familiar, but he couldn't recall experiencing anything like this other than from his mother. A bond had formed, that was all he knew. He didn't know what lay ahead for them in the future, not even what the next hour would entail. But he felt secure.

And so did Katara.

* * *

Sokka's world had shattered, completely and utterly. He thought about what had transpired in the last ten minutes or so. He recalled him and Toph flying towards the entrance to the caverns, how they heard one, then another blast of lightning. Sokka would later reflect on this, and determine that he knew something had gone wrong upon hearing the second lightning blast. As they descended towards the entrance, they glanced over the edge, to see terrified citizens running about and panicking, evidently having heard the two blasts. When they began hovering over the vertical shaft leading down into the caverns, they could hear the distinctive _whooshes_ of flame, and saw the stray licks of plasma all the way from the surface, _felt the heat_. Toph had held onto the side of the saddle for dear life as they began their descent under Lake Laogai. Halfway down, he made out the first dead Dai Li operative, the scorch marks, and what appeared to be streaks and pools of blood. As they swooped down into the cavern, they knew immediately something was terribly wrong. All they saw was fire meeting fire. No water whips, or waves, or ice daggers. No airbending or earthbending either. Sokka first saw Aang, who was clutching the side of his stomach, his face contorted in agony. He saw Aang briefly use airbending to propel himself to the saddle, having apparently expended all of his strength in this one simple maneuver which he could have accomplished as a 10-year-old, some 102 years prior. Sokka next looked around for his sister. _Where was she, where was she..._ he thought to himself, getting more and more worried until his eyes finally made out her crumpled, limp form behind Zuko, who was locked in a fire blast duel with his sister. He didn't register himself crying out at that moment, his protective personality catching up with the reality that his sister was hurt, or... he couldn't fathom it. Sokka leapt from the saddle, with Toph closely in pursuit.

Almost immediately after his feet met the ground, he truly took in the ferocious heat the two firebending siblings were putting out, and found himself unable to get much closer to his sister. Toph however managed to get several meters ahead of him, using a rocky shield in an attempt to shield her from that horrific, boiling heat. He recalled with an overwhelming surge of shame that even though he held his boomerang in his hand, he never threw it once. Never even made an _attempt_ to intervene, to save his sister. Perhaps it was simply that he was overcome with awe, panic, fear, shame, grief, or all those at the same time, he didn't quite yet know. Meanwhile, Toph called on her element, and was sending waves of earth at Azula, but trying not to target Zuko. At the time, he had been incensed, but he further remembered that Zuko had taken what appeared to have been a... _protective_ stance, somehow attempting to shield Katara. Which might have been the case, considering that he was facing the wrath of Azula. Furthermore, he realized that Zuko and Toph appeared to be synchronizing their attacks, his fire blasts timed to target Azula right after Toph's lumps of earth would go for the Crown Princess' legs and feet. Then, his vision lit up with a brilliant orange and white, the boiling heat accelerating rapidly towards him. Sokka would have accepted this fate, having failed to protect his only sibling, his sister whom he had sworn to protect to his father all those years ago. His life was spared only by Toph's instantaneous reflexes, with the plate of brown earth that she had solidified and brought out in front of Sokka to deflect the blast, in all of one second. Even so, Sokka recoiled from the overwhelming strength of the heat, which was now beginning heat his skin to the point of initiating boils and welts on his forearms and face. Tears blurred his vision, as he made a dash for the saddle, Toph closely following behind him. As he leaped on board Appa, who was loudly groaning, panicked the flames that threatened to set his fur alight, was shifting about, hampering Toph's effort to get on. Sokka extended his arm to her, utilizing all his strength to get his friend on board. As they made to leave, he gave one last torturous look at the scene before him, looking at his motionless sister, and only allowing one conclusion to materialize in his head. He looked at the scarred Crown Prince. Zuko's eyes locked with his, and he saw a faint nod, even as Sokka saw the firebender, his enemy ( _was he the enemy now? It didn't appear so_ ) begin to struggle to maintain his bending form. Sokka merely nodded back shakily, overcome by resignation and grief. He called out 'yip yip' to Appa, who was more than happy to oblige, the fear of the flames propelling them out of the cavern within seconds. Toph had shielded Aang's unconscious form ( _he'd blacked out during all this. The Avatar, our savior, had laid in the saddle doing nothing_ ) as they ascended rapidly out of the subterranean depths, and broke the surface level. He knew they couldn't stay here, and so they made for familiar shores. Perhaps Kyoshi, perhaps the North Pole, he didn't know yet. Without Katara by his side, he was beginning to lose any sense of purpose here. Maybe it lay in the Avatar, but he didn't know if he would re-awaken.

Once Sokka had cleared the inner layers of Ba Sing Se and gotten to a height just above the clouds, he turned back to Toph. The pale, stunned expression on her face, one which he had never seen before. "S-Sokka...?" she spoke softly, in a tone much unlike her usual, tough, abrasive voice. "Kat-Katara... She's... I don't know if she had... a heartbeat.." she said, quivering as the full weight of her words crashed down on both of them. Sokka realized a few seconds later that she was hyperventilating. He didn't hesitate to draw the small girl into his arms, comfort her as her frame shook with sobs that he had never heard before, with a grief he had never been exposed to from this tough earthbender. If he couldn't provide comfort or protection for his own blood, the least he could do was to do so for his friend. Whom, it seemed, was all he had now. They would stay in this position for several minutes, letting her empty out all her sorrows, and allowing them to silently begin to process what had just occurred. The harrowing loss which they had been exposed to. Not since Mother had died had he felt something like this. It was a poignant scene, the rushing of the air around them the only company they had. Aang had checked out, it seemed. Sokka decided then that he resented him, for not making more of an effort to save Katara. Sokka knew he was being irrational, having seen for himself the severity of the wound that Aang was sporting. It seemed that the only reasons for his continued survival and breathing were his unique position as the Avatar, and the location of the wound.

One thing was certain however: Aang was going to answer some questions. He _had_ to know what happened. What happened to Katara... and Zuko. He didn't know where the other teenager's loyalties lay. All he knew for certain, as he began to look at the situation from a logical perspective (as logical as he could maintain his thought, considering the circumstances), he knew that Zuko _had_ to have been protecting Katara. His positioning left no other reasonable alternative. Alas, Sokka would have to consider this for another time. His priority lay in protecting the one human connection he had retained thus far, helping the once haughty and rough-edged earthbender in his arms. "I'm here for you, Toph." he said softly, trying hard to keep his voice steady and strong. "O-Okay." Toph replied simply.

As the sky began to shift towards the evening, they simply embraced each other, enjoying this rare, solemn solitude, heading towards an uncertain future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Sokka and Toph :(
> 
> I wanted to delve into the pure pain, shock and guilt that he must be experiencing when I was writing this chapter. He always had this complex about being overprotective with Katara, whether that manifested through his initial misogyny, and throughout the show as he attempted to stop her from doing stuff (Admittedly stupid stuff sometimes, but still). As for Toph, she's stunned because beneath her tough, confident, headstrong exterior, she still has issues from being isolated from her parents. With the loss of Katara (who acted as a sort of impromptu mother to them, in addition to providing a sisterly connection), and with Aang being knocked out, she bonds with Sokka, who she's always had a special connection with (remember The Serpent's Pass?).
> 
> Hey, at least Katara's not hovering over death now (though neither Sokka, Toph, nor Aang know that). Also, Yue says hi :D
> 
> I'll be exploring Iroh's perspective in the next chapter, in addition to Zuko and Katara's movements throughout Ba Sing Se. We'll also explore the rest of the Gaang as they begin to deal with the loss of Katara.


	3. New Beginnings

The Dragon of the West knew that he had met his match. He should have expected this from the Crown Princess, but even so, the amount of raw energy and fury she emitted was breathtaking, and quite frankly absurd. This fourteen-year-old prodigy unleashed vortexes of fire that rivaled even those of Avatar Roku's dragon, Fang. The sheer energy behind her attacks put those of her father to shame. The vivid blue of her plasma jets were so enthralling, so beautiful... yet so lethal, so destructive, so horrific. From the day that Azula had begun to adopt her father's cruel tendencies, Iroh had pitied her. Pitied her blind faith behind his genocidal brother. Pitied the loss of a fulfilling childhood. She had been trained from the moment she had produced flame to take the throne, to continue the Fire Nation's policies of annihilation and assimilation. Behind her cold exterior, Iroh knew lay a deep-seated resentment, a mourning for the mother she felt she never had. The one that she felt Zuko had stolen from her. "Azula!" he called out, desperate to break through to her. He never hated her. He wanted to try to help her, guide her to the light that he had seen from the moment that he learned of his son's demise in this city all those years ago. "Please, let me help you!" he shouted, his voice barely making it through to her amid the powerful rushing sound of their opposing pillars of fire. "I will never listen to a traitor like you, Uncle!" she snarled back, the intensity of her blast only ratcheting up. Sweat coated the younger firebender's skin, mixed with streaks of tears as they slid down her visage. Her eyes were beginning to exhibit intense red streaks, her crazed concentration and hatred directed towards the enemy pushing her to her limits. "You should have perished here, alongside your pitiful excuse of a son!" she yelled, her expression displaying pure hatred for her uncle. Iroh resisted the urge right then to send a dagger of flame right through her heart. If he was truly looking to kill, he would have made such an attempt by then. "You don't know anything about being a warrior, Azula! You've been led astray by my brother!" he responded, intensifying his orange flames.

Iroh began to realize the plight that both firebenders were in. This was a bending lock, wherein both benders were forced to continue powering the same move indefinitely, until one, or both lost the ability to continue their bending. To maintain the attack, both parties would need to continually put more and more energy and effort into the same position, which could lead to severe injuries. For firebenders, this was a lethal predicament. Most continued blasts of fire against another opposing blast of fire would end in under 30 seconds. Iroh and Azula had been locked in the same position for nearly 4 minutes, and Iroh was rapidly approaching the limit of energy he could output at once. He could tell that Azula was approaching her limit too, with the way she was shuddering between breaths, and by the way her eyes nearly rolled back as she grunted, forcing herself to continue out of sheer hatred, or madness, _both_ , Iroh decided. _5 minutes_ , he estimated to himself, resisting the urge to cry out from pain. It burned. Everything burned. He didn't want to kill her, but he had to get out of this lock. We would succumb to her flames if he didn't. He gave a final look at his niece, hoping to see something, _anything_ that was a potential weakness, something to save himself without killing the young teen. He had to, for his nephew. He had to survive. He had to give him a chance to reason with his sister.

Then, he saw it. Gazing into his niece's once striking, amber eyes, he saw that they had glazed over. She didn't appear to register her surroundings anymore. He came to the conclusion that she'd completely surrendered control to her inner fire, relying on it to maintain the blasting form, which now appeared to grow weaker and weaker. Iroh lowered the intensity of his flame in response. An odd camaraderie seemed to develop between the two. Azula was long gone, clearly not in the present. Fresh tears were leaking down her flushed cheeks. So, when Azula's flames began to die out, Iroh mirrored her own fire, until eventually, the flames disappeared. A merciful silence overtake them. The faint ringing in his ears told Iroh everything he needed to know about the severity of what had just occurred. It took all his strength to not collapse right there and then. The heat persisted though, seeping into his very being. He cautiously surveyed Azula, who just... _stared_. Right into his being, into his very soul. It seemed that some comprehension had returned to her, but she remained still. Iroh knew that what he did next was probably a terrible idea, but he had to test this new person in front of him. The Azula he had known for the past 6 years would have continued fighting, even if it cost her life. He slowly lifted his right arm, shaking slightly as he did so. He took a deep breath, and called his element forth. A ball of fire formed in his hands. It appeared reflected in Azula's eyes, reflected in those glazed irises. He bent the flame into the form of a dagger. He observed Azula. A pause. Her hands began to shake. He took a step forward. Then, she made her first move. "Did mother love me?" she asked simply, Iroh observing that it took her some effort to keep her voice steady, perhaps devoid of emotion. Against the backdrop of a ruined cavern, bodies littered all around, it was a surreal situation. He noted that no other waves of Dai Li or any others had come down here. Perhaps the city's leaders knew what was happening in this cavern, and had left it isolated here, far away from the general populace. As of now, Ba Sing Se was in limbo, the city's fall or survival resting upon the shoulders of this 14-year-old girl, who had posed such a simple, yet such a profound question.

"Yes, Azula. She never stopped doing so." Iroh responded, panting as he made sure to keep his voice as soft as possible, his flaming dagger falling to his side, still lit however. Azula seemed to ponder this, in her own distinct, calculating way. Iroh had always understood that she was broken, hurt, _ill_. She needed this, to be able to sort through her thoughts for once. "I..." Azula began, betraying her own uncertainty, letting a hint of trepidation enter her voice. "I can't turn my back on father." she said quietly in a tone so unlike what he was used to hearing from her, as she looked down briefly before meeting Iroh's eyes once more. "I can't take back my actions. I can't join you, Uncle. Not now." The words were spoken with an effort to keep them neutral, but her uncle could instantly tell that the words hurt internally. "I know, my Azula. I know." The flaming dagger subsided. "Uncle... Leave. For your own good." Azula spoke, a finality entering her voice. Iroh knew that Azula had offered him escape- something she had _never_ done before. "Leave the city... before you force my hand." _There it is_ , Iroh thought, recognizing the familiar cold tone. Iroh simply nodded at her, turning away, towards the vertical entrance to the cavern. An hour ago he would have never turned his back to his niece. But now... he knew some mutual understanding was present between them. "Follow your heart, like my dear nephew did." he said, before summoning his inner inferno once more. The span of time he had spent not using firebending was enough to mostly regenerate his strength. He felt the flames return in earnest, as his feet and legs suddenly output a jet of flames. Taking a deep breath, he flared his inner fire, and before he knew it, he was rocketing through the air. When he realized that Azula hadn't attempt a parting blast at him, he felt confident that Ba Sing Se would remain sovereign, for now. As he ascended out of the cavern, and into the sky, he knew that his flaming form would be seen by most of the inner city, and certainly the Dai Li manning the walls that kept the city segregated and ordered. No shot, no arrow, no earth projectile came, however. Those who saw the rocketing form simply watched. All the better for him, Iroh mused. Once he left this city he'd be on the run once more, this time without his nephew. He recalled that soft, tender expression that Zuko had as he scooped the waterbending girl into his arms. He smiled, knowing that the girl would help him get through this. And so he faced the sky before him, as he accelerated his rocketing form away from Ba Sing Se.

* * *

As Zuko and Katara left the subterranean depths and reached the surface, they knew they had to hide- fast. Zuko picked up the pace, forcing Katara in turn to move her legs faster, much to her displeasure. She blinked wearily looking around. They had surfaced in an alleyway behind a row of tightly packed houses. They were in the Lower Ring of the city. As he pulled Katara further down the alleyway, he started to tug on the doorknobs of the wooden doors that they passed. Locked, locked, locked, locked- _wait_ , he thought to himself. Twisting the doorknob of the last door he had tried once more, he heard a clattering sound. Giving the home that the door led into a brief up-down inspection, he suspected that it was abandoned. _Perfect_. Checking around to make sure no one was watching, he guided Katara over to the wall next to the doorframe. "Try to keep standing." he spoke softly. Katara nodded, managing to hold herself up. Zuko felt for the weakest point of the door and, with one last look at his surroundings, gave a quick but powerful kick just above the doorknob. The lock gave way, and the door opened forth. He pulled Katara into him, and allowed her to sling her arm over his shoulder again. He quickly pulled her inside, and shut the door, satisfied that it still closed, even if the lock was now compromised. Both Katara and Zuko had to wait a few seconds for their eyesight to slowly adapt to the dark interior. Light streamed in through old, dirty windows at the front of the home. It was a decrepit abode, with furniture strewn about, and dust covering every surface. "Well then... home sweet home?" Zuko offered, earning him a weak chuckle from Katara. "Yeah, sure." she said giving him a playful look. After a few seconds, Zuko decided to be bold, and he promptly scooped the girl off of the ground and directly into his arms. "Wha- Zuko?" she began, but Zuko simply looked forward, as he began exploring the house for something to put Katara down on. "O-Okay, I guess." she murmured, more to herself than anything. _Tui and La, I'm so tired_ , she thought to herself. "Zuko?" she said, her tone quieter now. He paused and looked at her. "Can... I sleep?" she asked, hating how uncertain and timid that she sounded. "I mean, uh... sure? I'll uh, find a bed or couch or something, alright?" Zuko replied, taken aback by the silly request. "Hmmm... alright... Thank you..." she murmured, and before she knew it, all her energy seemed to dissipate. Sleep gracefully took her over, leaving Zuko to find a place to set her down.

After walking through the home for about a minute, he came upon a simple single bed with a somewhat scuffed mattress. Though dusty, it wasn't in _too_ bad of a condition, and so he gently laid down Katara upon the bed. There was a thin grey blanket laying balled up by the foot of the bed. Sighing, he took the blanket, smacked it several times against the walls in an effort to rid it of dust, and then used his heated-up breath to warm the blanket. Once satisfied, he carefully draped it over the sleeping girl, leaving her injured arm outside the blanket however. There were several urgent affairs to address now. First, he took off the outer robe that he wore, and began to tie it around Katara's wound. Whenever he pressed against it, she whimpered softly in her sleep, sending guilt creeping through him again. _If only I hadn't blacked out, if I hadn't betrayed her in the first place, maybe she'd be fine_ , he said to himself silently as he watched her eyelids briefly scrunch up tightly before relaxing. After a few moments, he moved away from her, now looking for a source of water. He moved from the bedroom, and crept quietly through the run-down home, wincing each time a floorboard groaned underneath his weight. He made his way to the kitchen, hoping to find a wooden bowl from which to collect water from outside. What he didn't expect to find was a water faucet. In the Fire Nation, he was used to luxuries such as these, but had become accustomed to not finding such modern technology outside of Caldera City. When he had come across one in the tea shop him and Uncle worked in, he had been blown away. And now, in a run-down, abandoned home in the Lower Ring? He moved his hand to the lever for the faucet and hesitated, before pulling up on it. To his utter astonishment, water began to flow out from the faucet, and it appeared to be clear too! He made a mental note to further respect those who had kept this metropolis running and had built it with such modern innovations in mind. He quickly looked around, finding an upside down wooden bowl laying on a stone counter. He rinsed the bowl briefly, before filling it up about two-thirds of the way. He turned off the faucet, and carried the bowl back to Katara who was still asleep. _Good,_ he thought to himself: _she needs all the rest she can_ _get_. He knelt down and placed the bowl down by the side of the bed, and then stood back up again. His eyes moved away from her and onto the dust particles that he saw floating in the rays of light that entered through the bedroom window. Zuko was set apart from Azula in many ways, and this was one of them. He recalled that she never really cared for the small things in nature, or even those around her. Never saw her gaze out at a sunset or sunrise like he had frequently, his mother by his side for many of them. She was always just... so focused. So intent on pleasing her father. Zuko could have almost felt bad for her, but then he remembered the situation he was in, and the wounds that Katara had sustained. He shook his head, hoping to rid himself of these melancholic recollections. As if on cue just to spite him, a memory of his mother explaining how to tend for wounds played in his head.

 _"Remember to wash out the wound using clean water or another disinfectant." Ursa told her son. "Mmhm." Zuko replied, wanting his mother to continue. "Once that's been done, then you wrap the wound, but not too tightly, otherwise the skin can't breathe, and then the healing won't be as quick." she told Zuko, her soft ambers meeting his. "Okay mama." was his reply._ Just as the memory receded from his head, he realized something: he had wrapped Katara's wound before washing it out! Smacking his forehead, he knelt down beside the bed, and gently but swiftly unwrapped his robe from around her arm, earning another hiss from Katara in her sleep. If she wasn't in the throes of weakness-induced sleep, she would probably have woken up, he thought to himself. He very carefully picked up the bowl and brought the edge of wooden container to the wound's surface, and began pouring the water onto the badly damaged tissue. Katara whimpered again, her eyes scrunching up once more as the liquid seeped into the wound, while also dripping down onto the mattress. The water became filled with particles of charred, dead skin, and clots of blood, and the unsavory elements were pooled next to her body on the bed. Putting the bowl down, he used his robe to sweep them off of the bed, away from Katara, before picking the bowl back up and continuing to wash out the wound. Once he was satisfied, he put the now half-empty bowl down onto the ground, and now applied the makeshift dressing to the wound. This time, Katara didn't react as harshly, which was a good sign. Content with his efforts, he moved away from the bed, and opted to lean against the wooden wall, deciding that he would very much appreciate some rest himself. For now, they were safe. And that's all that mattered to Zuko. Slowly, his eyelids closed shut, as he let the bliss of sleep take him over.

* * *

They had been flying for hours now. Aang still hadn't waken up, and neither Toph nor Sokka had made any attempt to rouse him. All they had done thus far was to rinse his wound with some of the water that they had been carrying around with them, and had covered it with a shawl that Sokka had brought with him. Appa was beginning to groan wearily, signalling that they would need to land soon. With a sigh, Sokka began to guide Appa down, scouting out a clearing in which to set up camp. The sun was just about to crest under the horizon, and Sokka could already see several stars in the late evening sky. He looked back at Toph, who had taken to curling up beside Aang, clutching onto the saddle. She didn't appear to quite be there. Sokka had never seen her like this before, never seen her so _weak_. Turning back to scan his surroundings, he spotted a grassy clearing below next to a river, surrounded by a somewhat densely packed forest. _This will do_ , he mused to himself, as he guided Appa down at a rather steep angle. "Sokka?" he heard Toph call, her voice tinged with a hint of fear. Turning around, he saw the reason: the speed of his descent was causing Toph to struggle holding on the side of the saddle, and Aang had shifted further back. "O-Oh, right..." he said, tugging back on Appa's reins to slow their descent. Eventually, they reached the solid ground once more. He first helped Toph get off, and then heaved Aang up over his shoulder, making sure not to put too much pressure on his stomach. He slid down Appa's body, before placing the airbender down on the soft, somewhat damp grass. Sokka checked Aang's breathing, finding it was at a normal, safe rhythm. _Of course it is_ , a dark corner of Sokka's mind whispered. His face hardening, he resolved to not get too close to Aang, lest his resentment towards the younger boy cloud his judgement. Instead, he opted to gather all the belongings from the saddle. After a couple minutes, he had laid them all down neatly on a blanket they had brought with them. He set to work on setting up a tent. He glanced at Toph, who had been staring out into the woods, sitting next to Aang. He decided to not trouble her with this task.

Toph didn't know what to make of her world anymore. How could things have gone so horribly wrong? How... wasn't the Avatar supposed to keep his friends safe? Even though she knew, practically speaking, that Aang still had a ways to go in terms of his bending prowess, she had to blame _someone_ for the catastrophic turn of events. She had grown fond of Katara, despite the initial animosity that existed between them. _Heh_. _Katara_. She was so used to referring to her as 'Sugar Queen' that her real name seemed almost foreign, especially when pronounced in her head. She thought about her friend, and her fate. She recalled the moment in the caverns when she scanned for her distinct heartbeat, and failed to sense it. At least, she thought she hadn't. There was a very faint sensation she _had_ detected. It _might_ have been Katara's, Toph thought to herself, but the fact was that such a weak heartbeat, if it was that at all, could only be present within someone on the verge of death. And they had left her to the crazed Fire Princess, leaving only Zuko to defend her. _Zuko defending Katara_. If you had told Toph that this had occurred even a day ago, she would have probably checked your heartbeat, hoping to tell just exactly what you were intoxicated on. But Toph _knew_ it when she sensed the Fire Prince's pulse. That tight, defensive, coiled up beat, a rapid thudding, and the way that his head had darted to his sides, as if he was checking to see behind him. Every time that he did glance back, that heartbeat would respond in kind, which left one conclusion. How this had transpired, Toph couldn't fathom. She hadn't believed he could have compassion and empathy for anyone outside the Fire Nation, but as the events of this day had proven, it was possible for logic that had thus far worked out well to be completely upended. As she recalled Zuko's actions, she also realized that she had actually been bending _with_ Zuko, somewhat synchronizing their respective elements' attacks. Her subconscious realization that he was on _their_ side had probably played a role in her actions. Then, of course, Sokka froze. Whether it was from fear, panic, guilt, or a combination of all three, she hadn't quite ascertained yet. His boomerang was in his hand, but yet he didn't act. When she felt the ball of sheer heat spiraling towards her friend, she had acted on an instinct born of a strong faith in her element. The rocky plate withstood the initial impact of the blast, but had crumpled upon being moved slightly backwards. Then, the overwhelming heat of the dual blasts of fire she detected began to scramble what she could 'see', the sensations of earth and the distinct signatures of the other people present blurring. If she hadn't retreated at that moment, she suspected that she would have been left truly blind, and left defenseless against the wrath of the Crown Princess. It wasn't that she didn't trust Zuko to defend her (she had to have faith in him, him shielding Katara left no room for argument. But, still, it felt so _weird_ to think of their enemy like this), it was that she didn't think Zuko _could_ defend her, even he wanted to. His sister was just too powerful, and Toph reckoned that Zuko defending both the waterbender behind him and Toph herself would have been an impossible task. Besides, she _knew_ that he would choose Katara to defend. She wasn't aware of any bond or connection between the two teens, but Zuko's heartbeat told her all she needed to know about his priorities.

As the moon began to spread its light on the landscape around them, Toph stood up from the ground where she had been sitting next to Aang's resting form. He would need the attention of a healer soon, _if only Katara_ _had been here,_ she bitterly mused to herself. She sighed, and let the eyelids covering her non-seeing eyes shut. It was best to relax her muscles. Inhaling and exhaling once more, she stomped her right foot on the ground, generating a mental image of her surroundings. She registered the location of a small river next to their clearing by the way her earthbending senses got blurry and out of focus as her senses reached the edge of the body of liquid. She registered a mental image of the forests that stretched out all around them, picking up individual grains of sand, the stray pebbles, the vibrant _wholeness_ of the earth beneath her feet. It was a way for her to let the trauma slowly ease away, to temporarily take her mind off of the reality that the remaining members of Team Avatar faced. She focused on Sokka's figure now, having not concentrated on his signature throughout the length of her feat of bending. It was getting closer to her. "Toph?" the Water Tribe boy called out, his voice somewhat hesitant. Toph turned around, 'looking' at him. "I, uh... Sorry." Toph replied, scratching the back of her neck sheepishly. "It's fine." he replied, smiling softly. Toph looked down at Aang's curled up form. "Let's bring him inside, then?" she asked, motioning at the Avatar. "Yeah... sure." Sokka replied, not bothering to completely remove the hostility for the younger boy from his voice. Sokka and Toph took his arms and legs respectively, and moved the unconscious airbender inside the tent that Sokka had managed to erect whilst Toph had gathered her thoughts. Once they deposited the boy inside, Toph placed a second blanket over his sleeping form. A sudden wave of sleepiness sunk over Sokka and Toph at this moment. "Ah, well... I guess sleep it is?" Sokka asked, shrugging, stifling a yawn. "Y-Yeah." Toph replied, letting out her own soft yawn immediately following these words. She went back outside to the collection of items and necessities they had brought with them, and picked out two blankets of her own. "Goodnight, Sokka." she called out, the word 'Sokka' hanging from her lips for a second longer than usual. "Goodnight." he called back, causing Toph to smile faintly. She chose an area just adjacent to the tent that Sokka and Aang were in, and earthbended a tent for herself, the bending taking longer than usual owing to her tiredness. Placing the blankets down, she quickly curled into a fetal position, and allowed the rhythm of the Earth beneath her to rock herself to sleep.

Sokka stepped out of the tent after a few minutes. He took in the calm night, observing the moon as it began its arc over the night sky. _Yue_ , he thought to himself. _Please, bring my sister back,_ he spoke mentally. He could have sworn he had seen the moon shimmer brighter in response- or maybe it was just his sleep-deprived and exhausted mind playing tricks on him. Whatever the case, he collected his own blanket from the pile outside the tent, and walked back in the tent. He looked at Aang once more, fighting the urge to lash out at him, before sleeping at the absolute corner, putting as much distance between him and the other boy as possible. He wrapped the blanket around himself, and within a few minutes fell into an uneasy sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel that the tension that Sokka is experiencing around Aang is an incarnation of his protectiveness over Katara. Unable to protect his sister himself, he's taken to resenting the Avatar, the only other person present during the battle. Hell, he actually respects Zuko more than Aang at the moment, because at least he's seen some evidence that Zuko had acted to protect Sokka's sister, even though she was his enemy.
> 
> As always, I would greatly appreciate your reviews!
> 
> In the next chapter I will start off in the morning with all the core members of the Gaang, plus Zuko. In addition, I'll be briefly exploring Azula's POV, and how her actions immediately after the battle keep Ba Sing Se free and unconquered.


	4. Melancholy

Katara was drawn out of her sleep by the rays of sunlight streaming through the worn-down, dangling wooden blinds of the window adjacent to her bed. She moved her right arm to shield her eyes, feeling the gentle warmth pool against her skin. After taking a moment to get a hold of her surroundings, she remembered the events of the day before. She moved her arm and looked beside her bed, to find Zuko asleep, leaning against the wall as he slept on the bare wooden floor. A swarm of emotions hit her right then like a sack of bricks. She recalled how she had felt as she leapt in front of Azula's lightning, her fear being dwarfed by an eerie acceptance of her fate. How her first memory after that was looking into Zuko's soft, concerned eyes. The way his eyes focused on her, something about them was very different than the eyes she had encountered throughout the months that he had pursued them. When he had tied her to that tree, his eyes were nothing like that. They were cold, somewhat gleeful. Then, when she had next gazed into his eyes below Lake Laogai, as she offered to heal his scar, she recalled how his eyes held hope. How that hope seemed to be snuffed out as she pulled the spirit water away from him. Somehow, she was beginning to understand why Zuko had betrayed her. But what could have made him reverse his decision? She wasn't quite sure, but she was grateful for it. Even though she _had_ been abandoned there with her former enemy, and another teen who very much _was_ her enemy (that _hurt_ , Katara ruefully reflected), she knew deep down that it was the Avatar's destiny to stop the century-long madness and destruction- not Katara's. Looking away from Zuko, she took in the rest of the bedroom. It was dusty, was worn-down, and the structural integrity of the whole place couldn't have been _excellent_ , but still, she appreciated this temporary abode. Then, she realized something else. It was _morning_ , which meant that they had been staying here, undetected, for _at least_ 12 or so hours. If Azula had seized the city, she doubted that her and Zuko could have stayed here for that long without being caught. Which left one possibility: that Azula hadn't won. Hadn't taken over the city. _Which means,_ Katara said mentally to herself as her eyes focused on Zuko once more, _that Zuko... defeated Azula? But no, I heard fire blasts behind Zuko as I woke up in the caverns. What else could have happened then..._ she wondered.

A throbbing pain in her left arm took her mind off of those questions just then, as she realized that the wound that the lightning blast had inflicted upon her arm hadn't been healed yet. As she put her hand on the wrapping around her wound ( _wait, isn't that Zuko's ROBE? He wrapped it with THAT?_ ), she heard someone clearing clearing their throat. Her head whipping up at a speed which might be considered unsafe, she found herself staring into his golden gaze once more. They were so... brilliant. She imagined that they were alight with soft, gentle flames, complimenting a soft, gentle boy- _Oh,_ she thought to herself, blushing lightly at where her thoughts had been going. She blinked a couple of times, before focusing on him once more. He was looking at her with a strange expression, as if he was contemplating her very being. "Hey." he said, waving his hand. "Welcome back." he said, smirking slightly. "Oh, uh..." Katara trailed off, desperate to think of something to fill the awkward void with. "Uh... You're welcome?" she tried, before she quickly shook her head, muttering nonsensical things to herself. Zuko found this rather endearing. He'd finally found someone equally as awkward as he was- okay, she clearly had a way with words, he'd seen that first hand before, but just in this moment, she'd sunk down to his level of sheer and utter ineptitude when it came to speech. He decided to take initiative, and pushed himself off of the wooden floor. "How's your arm?" he asked, opting to sit down at the corner of the bed. Katara gingerly removed herself from the blanket that she had managed to wrap herself within during her sleep, and moved closer to Zuko, extending her left arm. "It still hurts, it's this throbbing feeling." she told him, watching anxiously as he frowned, and began to unwrap what had once been his robe from around the injury. "Oh yeah, Zuko, uh, you didn't have to do that for me." she continued, pointing to the crumpled and somewhat bloody cloth that Zuko was uncoiling from around her arm. Zuko merely shrugged. "Eh, I'll live without it." he replied calmly. She narrowed his eyes at the firebender. How aloof could he be? Then again, he _had_ saved her life. Perhaps it was just best to not question some of these, _unique_ decisions of his. Perhaps she was just looking into things too much. As Zuko finished unwrapping the cloth from around the wound, his eyes widened ever so slightly. "Agni..." he murmured, as his eyes took in the deep, jagged gash on Katara's arm. "You _slept_ though this!?" Zuko exclaimed, staring at Katara incredulously. Evidently, Katara was having a similar reaction to the severity of the wound. "I... didn't realize..." she managed, looking somewhat squeamish. "Alright, then. Can you try waterbending?" he asked the girl. "Hmm..." she replied noncommittally, as she raised her right arm. She glanced around her waist and for her waterskin. Moving her fingers rhythmically, she appeared lost in concentration. Finally, a ball of water floated up, morphing into the shape of a cube. Her gaze softened at the sight of the cube, a smile making its way to her face.

Zuko felt a sort of fluttery thing inside him, his emotions becoming lighter as he watched Katara raise her maimed arm towards the cube, which was now morphing back into a spherical shape. That look of concentration had returned, Zuko noted, as she brought the water to the surface of her skin. Biting her bottom lip, she pooled the water into the wound, wincing a bit as she put her efforts into healing some of the tissue. This wasn't spirit water, so this process would likely take a while. As water collected within the confines of the jagged, streaking wound, the dark purple and red exposed tissue began to change tone, slowly changing into a light red and pinkish hue. Zuko was fascinated by the control that Katara exercised over her element, his already high levels of respect for the girl surging even more so. "That's so cool!" he said, unable to help himself. Katara merely grinned at this, her eyes still focused on healing her arm. They sat there for several minutes, with Katara beginning to sweat as the stamina needed to maintain her healing began to take a toll on her body. Once Zuko felt that the wound had been healed enough, he reached forward and grabbed Katara's right arm, interrupting the healing process. Before Katara had a chance to question this, he spoke quickly: "You need to take a break, alright?" After considering this, she slowly nodded, glancing at her now mostly-healed wound before looking once more at Zuko. She took a few seconds to compose herself, getting her breathing under control. An awkward silence formed between the two teens. After a few more seconds, Zuko decided to take initiative, and tugged on Katara's good arm. "Come on, let me show you the kitchen!" he said excitedly, as he got up, with Katara following behind apprehensively. As they entered, Zuko gestured for Katara to follow him to the counter. "Look, it's a faucet." he said, turning around to find Katara just... _staring_ at it, as if it was just another mundane object. Unimpressed by her reaction, he was about to speak when the waterbender cut him off. "Zuko, I can _bend_ _water_." she pointed out, a smirk coming across her features. After a brief pause, Zuko deflated. "Oh, uh... Right." he murmured. Katara just giggled at this. "What? What's so funny?" Zuko retorted, his signature moody side coming out. "Oh, nothing." she said flippantly, still grinning. "Whatever..." Zuko grumbled, deciding to find glasses from him and Katara to drink from. After finding two in a cupboard beneath the counter, he rinsed them under the faucet and then filled them with water. He offered the glass to Katara, who accepted it gratefully (she was feeling thirsty, and was glad that Zuko had gotten her the glass without her having to ask for one).

From there, the two benders walked slowly through the house, taking time to explore it. They didn't have any food to prepare, so this was all they could do, really. As the early morning sunlight streamed through the the exposed windows of the home, both felt an unusual sense of long, of nostalgia- even though this abandoned home didn't have any connection to either of their lives. Perhaps it was merely the silent solitude that the two basked in that gave rise to these feelings. After a few minutes, they elected to lounge on a worn-down sofa, the cushions scratched and torn, and the wooden frame within visible through the large cuts in the sofa's fabric exterior. The silence that followed was a comfortable one. Somehow, the mutual feeling was as if they were life-long friends. After all, their respective actions yesterday were ones worthy of such a hypothetical friendship.

Yet... there was still _something_ there. A small uncertainty that for whatever reason was shadowing over this new relationship the two had forged. It could be ignored under the desperate and dire circumstances of the previous day, but now... but now something had to give. Katara made the first move. "Zuko..." she began, hoping to frame her words to not come off as accusatory. She didn't _distrust_ the Fire Nation prince, but she didn't _understand_ him either. Why he had done what he had done. "What... what happened yesterday?" she asked, looking intently into his amber eyes. Zuko considered this. He had betrayed three people. He had betrayed the girl in front of him, he had betrayed his uncle, and finally, he had betrayed his mother His mother who wanted her son to be better. To do the right thing. He was a _traitor._ He reckoned he was a rather prolific one too. "I..." he began, sighing briefly before continuing. "I can't fully understand my actions down there. I _think_ I know why I did what I did, but saying those reasons out loud is... difficult." he confessed, his gaze lowering. "And uh... I'm sorry, again. For what I did." he said, his words dripping with guilt. Something within Katara twisted at these words. Whatever doubts she had about his loyalties, and whether she could trust him were disappearing.

But, there was still _something_. A curiosity to know _why_. "I know, Zuko. I forgive you." she said earnestly, her eyes trying to convey the sincerity behind her words. As Zuko looked at her brilliant blues, he felt his mood lift ever so slightly. "But..." Katara continued, and Zuko was suddenly overcome with trepidation. "... Why did you turn on me in the first place?" she said softly, trying to make her tone as non-hostile as possible. Zuko evidently picked up on these cues, as he didn't recoil as hard as he should have at these words. Zuko thought about his answer carefully. _You offered me hope, acceptance... healing. Then you left. Left. You... left._ As irrational as this reasoning was, he figured it was the most accurate version of what had compelled Zuko to side with Azula. "... Do you remember when you offered to heal my scar?" he said quietly, as if he was unsure of himself. "Then, when the Avatar burst in... you left me." he said, his gaze lowering once more. Katara had picked up on this tick of Zuko's, this nervous aversion to eye contact. For a brash and arrogant Fire Prince, he certainly was very timid. "I felt... cheated." he admitted, his voice beginning to crack. "I _know_ that it's no excuse, but I just... I just couldn't do the right thing when it counted." At this Zuko began to choke up, compelling Katara to act. She instinctively shifted closer to Zuko on the sofa, and brought her right atm around his frame. He froze, tensing up at the unexpected contact. But it felt so _good_. And so Zuko relaxed, his arms slowly going up to encircle her frame. "You came around, Zuko. You did the right thing." she whispered into his ear, hoping to offer comfort to this boy who she suddenly felt protective over. "We can talk about this another time, if you'd like." she told Zuko, to which he simply nodded. "O-Okay." he managed, loosening his hold around her torso, but nevertheless still being present there. It was about a minute before Katara and Zuko pulled back from the embrace they had been in. As Katara did so, she realized something- she _cared_ for Zuko. It was just a simple desire to protect him, but Katara felt that it had become essential to her well-being. She didn't know why, or how this had become the case, but she didn't mind it.

Zuko's perspective was even more pronounced when it came to this new development: he felt as thought Katara provided something that he had lacked since his mother had disappeared. His uncle had somewhat filled the void, but there was still an element missing. And now, with Katara, he began to realize that she comprised that missing element. He couldn't quite isolate it just yet, but he was determined to make sense of his feelings sooner or later. For now, his attention had once again shifted to their circumstances. Specifically, the grumbling that his stomach just produced. The two teens came to their senses at hearing this noise. "You're good to go out, right? Because I _sure_ am hungry" Zuko said, his desire for food growing more and more. He was still somewhat worried about his... _friend?_ That _was_ who she was to him, right? "Yeah, I think so." Katara replied, testing out first her waterbending, and then the mobility of her left arm. The scar that had been left behind from the healing was still sensitive nevertheless. But Katara felt she could handle that. "Alright." Zuko said simply, getting up off of the sofa. He extended his arm out to Katara, who accepted with a quiet 'thank you'. Even though she certainly could have gotten up on her own, seeing as she was about to leave their 'home' to get food, it still felt nice for Zuko to offer his help to her. She couldn't recall feeling this nice around _any_ other boy. Sure, there was Sokka, but that was just... weird. She quickly rid her mind of such thoughts as they made their way to the rear entrance that they had accessed this home from yesterday evening.

Zuko slowly opened the door and craned his head outside, looking around before beckoning for Katara to follow. As they left the home and were hit by the soft morning breeze, they suddenly realized the state of their clothing. Tattered, torn, exposed. The two teens did a double-take, both embarrassed by the fact that they'd been together in _these_ clothes and hadn't seemed to have noticed. "We're getting clothes first. First, alright?" Katara quickly told Zuko, a faint blush still tinging her cheeks. "Y-Yeah." Zuko replied sheepishly. They briskly walked down the alleyway, noting how... _quiet_ it was. They still heard people conversing in the distance, but the city seemed so _subdued_. Zuko immediately thought about his sister, his mind racing down a horrible path of reasoning, until he realized that he didn't hear any Fire Nation infantry, nor armored vehicles, and he didn't see any airships either. If the Dai Li had been under the strict thumb of his crazed sister, a curfew would have been enforced. Their hideout would have been discovered, and the two wouldn't have been where they presently were. That meant that Azula had failed to take control of the city. This new realization somewhat calmed his nerves. _At least it isn't completely_ _hostile territory_ , Zuko mused silently.

As the two teens walked, a pair of small, beady green eyes followed them. The lemur purred softly, analyzing the situation before it. As the two teens rounded a corner, Momo followed suit.

* * *

In the woods just outside the Outer Wall of Ba Sing Se, Azula brooded in solitude. Her left eye twitched slightly, as the weight of what had transpired the day before began to settle in. After her uncle, _her_ _traitorous, vile_ _excuse of an uncle_ had firebended himself out from underneath Lake Laogai, she had just... stood there. Alone, in shock. Taking in the numerous bodies of the Dai Li agents littering the cavern, she had realized that she couldn't stay here. No, not when Kuei had retained control of the city. She would later learn that after the wretched excuse of a monarch had been informed of the battle that was taking place deep beneath the city, he had opted to wait for the outcome of the confrontation. A foolish choice... but one that would reward the king greatly. When she had left the caverns after several hours, the sun was slowly disappearing over the horizon. The first thing she encountered was a swarm of Dai Li agents and Royal Guards, their earthbending primed, rocks and boulders aimed at the Crown Princess. _"Leave the city at once."_ she recalled a commander of the Royal Guard ordering her, his voice booming. _"Do you know who I am?_ _"_ she snarled at the man, tears threatening to break out across her face. _How dare he..._ _"Yes, Crown Princess Azula. In the interest of maintaining a truce between the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom, we shall allow you to leave uninterrupted. If you fail to heed this opportunity, we cannot guarantee your life."_ he told her, his expression one of barely concealed anger. After a brief pause, Azula relented. Silently turning her back to the group, she isolated her inner fire. Despite the wreck that her emotional state was in, she managed to summon a powerful firebending jet, similar to the one that her uncle had used to leave. She had faced the darkening sky, and let herself leave the ground. Like a coward. _I am a coward. What would father think..._ Azula thought to herself.

She thought back to her flight over the colossal city, her throat tightening as she realized that all her ambitions for this stronghold in the path of the Fire Nation's success had been obliterated. When she had first landed in these woods she had begun searching for water, her energy having been depleted from the continuous jet of fire. After an hour or so she had stumbled upon a pond. Like a peasant, like a commoner, Azula had prostrated before the ground, her tongue desperately lapping up the live-giving liquid. Oh, how low she had fallen. She had fallen asleep soon after, leaning against a tree. When she had awoke, she found her clothes muddied, the royal regalia that graced her robes having been defiled by the dirt, mud, and pondscum she had accumulated over the night. She crawled over to the water just then, hoping to get more water, to take her mind off her self-destructive thoughts. Staring into the natural mirror that was the pond's reflection in the early morning light, she felt a shiver pass over her. _My child, it is I that you desire. I have always been here,_ a soft, feminine voice whispered in Azula's head. _Do not let your father lead you astray, my beautiful Azula,_ it continued. Something snapped within Azula, as she immediately summoned a fire whip. "Lies! You've ALWAYS lied to me, mother!" she screeched, taking out her rage on the trees that surrounded her. "You left me! Betrayed me! Just like Zuko, just like Uncle!" she shouted, tears welling up around her eyes "Y-You never came back..." her voice had dropped to a whisper, tears openly streaming down her cheeks. The fire whip had dissipated. In the silence that followed, a second, more familiar voice was heard by Azula: _"She always loved you, Azula."_ But her uncle was a liar... but this lie... it felt... so _good_. She _wanted_ this lie. She was _so_ confused. Azula couldn't deal with this. She didn't _want_ to confront this. She was so tired... so weak...

As she collapsed onto the ground, a vision of her gazing at turtleducks came into her consciousness. She faintly heard a distant, child-like laugh as her world went black.

* * *

The first thing that Aang felt when he woke was a persistent throbbing coming from the left side of his stomach. _A tummy ache?_ But as Aang became more and more lucid, memories began to fly into his consciousness, slamming into him like bricks, waking him up through the sheer trauma that they forced the young boy to relive. He registered one main thing: _Katara wasn't here. I left her._ Even though he had supposedly let her go ( _it was how I got into the Avatar State, Aang reflected_ ), it still _hurt._ A _lot_. But for now, there were more pressing matters. As he pushed himself into an upright position, he looked down at his torso, finding a blood-soaked shawl covering the wound on his stomach. _Sokka's shawl_ , Aang recalled. Speaking of Sokka, he was now beginning to register the older boy's hushed, quiet voice outside. He was conversing with... Toph, Aang realized. He slowly pushed himself up off of the blankets underneath him and hesitated, before pushing the flap to the tent outwards. The first thing he noticed was that Sokka and Toph were sitting around a dwindling campfire, and both were looking in his direction. Sokka was shooting him an irritable glare. The Avatar gulped at this. Looking around their surroundings briefly, Aang looked at Sokka again. The hostile expression was gone, replaced with a neutral look. "Hey, Aang." he said, emotions completely devoid from the Water Tribe boy's voice. After a moment, Sokka took his eyes off of the younger boy and turned his attention back to the fire. Toph's mouth had formed into a somewhat thin grimace. Aang cautiously approached his two companions and took a cross-legged seat adjacent to both Toph and Sokka, forming a triangular shape between the three. An uncomfortable silence took hold, with Sokka staring resolutely into the dwindling fire, Toph fiddling with her fingers, and Aang just sitting there, wondering what was up with both of them.

Eventually, Toph broke the air: "How does it feel?" she asked, pointing vaguely at Aang's torso- just because Sokka had described the wound's location earlier didn't mean she could quite imagine it in her head. He shrugged, his hand drifting to the shawl covering the gash in his stomach. "It doesn't hurt _that_ bad anymore." he replied. Sokka merely nodded at this, looking at Aang strangely. "So..." Sokka began, taking on his signature drawl, his eyes narrowing as he looked at Aang. "What _actually_ happened down there, huh?" the older boy asked, his tone somewhat accusatory. Thin beads of sweat appeared on Aang's head. Toph knew that this was going to end _badly_. But she stuck around, wanting to read his heartbeat when he replied to Sokka. She wanted to see whether he was going to tell the truth. "Uh... About Katara...?" he asked timidly, earning him a sharp, lethal glare from the older boy. " _Yes_ , Aang," he hissed. "What happened to her?" Sokka elaborated.

"O-Okay..." Aang stuttered. _His heartbeat's going a mile a minute..._ Toph mused to herself. "I, uh, found Katara in what I think was some sort of prisoner's cavern," he began. "She was with Zuko. She... she had the spirit water that Master Pakku gave to her," he recalled, his eyesbrows furrowing. Toph read Aang's heartbeat as he spoke, determining that he was telling the truth. _Now_ she was interested. She had assumed that the Avatar would have tiptoed around the subject, telling half-truths. But, evidently not. She continued reading his heartbeat anyways. "Katara was holding the water to Zuko's face, over that scar of his," Aang continued. Before the younger boy could continue, Sokka interjected. "Toph, is he telling the truth?" he demanded, to which Toph merely nodded. "Alright... continue." he said to Aang in that same harsh tone. "When I came through that rocky wall Katara moved the water away from Zuko, and she came to Iroh and I," Aang said. "I felt angry at Zuko for being alone with Katara," at this Sokka raised his eyebrows, "... and Zuko was angry at his uncle for being with me." he elaborated. "Iroh sent off Katara and I to find you two." as he said this, he pointed at both Sokka and Toph. "Wait, how _did_ you two escape-" he began, only to be cut off by an angry Sokka. "Last time I checked, this was about _you_ , not _us_." he hissed. "A-Alright!" Aang replied quickly, his hands waving placatedly. After a pause, he continued. "We left this smaller cave, and we ran for a bit. Then, we came to that large cavern. The one where... _it_ happened." he said quietly. Sokka quickly spoke: "Truth?" he asked Toph. "Truth." Toph affirmed. He nodded for Aang continue. "Just then, Azula came out of nowhere." he revealed. "We were beating her, we could have escaped... but then Zuko showed up." Aang said the last part in a whispered tone. "There was this... moment. Where we thought he'd join us. But then, he started _attacking_ us." Aang said.

Sokka digested this information. He compared what he had just learned with what he had seen Zuko do just as they left the Catacombs. "Toph?" Sokka said, his tone inquiring. After a beat, Toph replied: "Truth. But..." she paused briefly, before continuing. "Sokka. You... saw Zuko do what I felt, right?" she asked, her voice uncertain. Sokka knew what she was referring to. "He defended her, right?" Sokka asked Toph, to which she gave another nod. "A-Alright..." Sokka said. So Zuko had _started off_ the battle on Azula's side. But it was becoming more and more clear that something had occurred in between the start of the battle and when him and Toph first entered the battle to change this. Aang just looked between them incredulously, unaware of this fact. "Go on." Sokka said, his voice conveying the desire to know what had happened next.

After trying to figure out the cryptic meaning behind his friends' words once more, Aang relented and continued forth. "Zuko and Azula started blasting fire at both of us, working together. After a bit, we split up. Katara was fighting against Zuko, and I was fighting against Azula. Katara was shouting at Zuko- something about him 'having changed', and he said something back to her. I don't _quite_ remember..." the boy said, frowning slightly. Before Sokka could even ask, Toph quickly said "Truth." Sokka made a quite 'hmph', but otherwise remained silent. "I remember Azula sending a blast of fire at me. I was... overwhelmed by it. She sent me flying into one of the crystal walls of the cavern. It knocked the wind out of me. As I slid down the ground, I saw Azula send this huge blast of fire at Katara. She tried to defend herself with the ice shield she bended, but Azula's fire melted it all. She also got blasted into a wall, but she got knocked out." As Aang finished this sentence, he saw how Sokka's face had somewhat paled. But then, something else came over it. It was confusion, and _suspicion_ , Aang realized. Toph's expression also mirrored these emotions, but her unseeing eyes seem to hold something more. Insight, perhaps? "What next?" Toph spoke this time. She had to know what the gap in the story was. Where was this apparent inconsistency present? Aang responded after a brief moment of hesitation. "I saw Zuko stop attacking. He just _stood_ there, looking at Katara. I sent an earthbending wave at him, but he dodged it using a jet of fire that he lifted himself off the ground from." At hearing that Aang had used earthbending, Toph couldn't help but smile slightly, despite the circumstances. "Then?" the girl asked Aang to elaborate. "The Dai Li surrounded Katara and I. We were completely outmatched. I... I had no choice. I... I tried to get into the Avatar State. A-And I actually got in! Then... I remember my world went white first... and then black. I _know_ I got hit by lightning, because I _saw_ it, just for an instant. But the bolt was too quick. I couldn't save myself." he finished, his voice taking on a low, haunted quality.

Sokka glanced at Toph, who was slowly nodding. "That explains one of the blasts..." Toph murmured. Aang, totally clueless as to what she was talking about couldn't help but ask. "There was only one lightning blast, though. What are you talking about?" he inquired, his voice getting more and more agitated with every word that he uttered. "Liar! There were two!" an incensed Sokka shouted back. Before the situation could escalate further, Toph intervened. "Sokka, he's not _lying_. It's like Jet. He just doesn't _know_." she said calmly, or as calm she she could be in this situation. Sokka considered this, before a sneer appeared on his face. "Right... what _do_ you know?" he asked. Aang took a deep breath in, hoping to calm himself before continuing. "I... I remember waking up. A loud sound..." he trailed off just then, realization etched on his face. "The second blast, I assume?" Sokka said, derision evident in his voice. "I didn't see it... but I guess I heard it." Aang admitted. "The first thing I saw when I woke up was Katara. She was... was..." Aang couldn't finish the sentence. He didn't want to make what he suspected to be true. "She wasn't moving..." he managed, his voice tortured. For once, Sokka didn't hold Aang's words against him, since he himself basked in the silent grief. Toph's head dropped. "... truth." she whispered, her voice barely audible. The three just sat there for about a minute, letting Aang's words digest. Eventually, Aang broke the silence. "After I saw... that, I saw Zuko and Azula fighting _each_ _other_." Sokka and Toph both nodded imperceptibly, having known this fact. "I don't know what happened to cause that. I don't know what... what hurt Katara. But I saw that the Dai Li soldiers had been taken out. Since they were working with Azula first... That means _Zuko_ must have attacked them. Because _I_ didn't take them all out. _I_ don't... I don't kill. But they were _dead_." Aang felt like he was ranting, but him confronting what had occurred in the Catacombs would eventually lead to him releasing his emotions, he knew _that_. "I saw my wound... I felt... weak. Hopeless," at this the younger boy chuckled humorlessly. "I'm the Avatar. The fate of the world rests on _my_ shoulders... and yet I failed to protect the one person that I _loved_."

The silence that followed was deafening. Sokka's expression, after a brief period of confusion, morphed into one of utter shock. For Toph however, it didn't come as much of a surprise. What _did_ surprise the blind earthbender was the candidness, the boldness of Aang's statement. After a brief pause, Toph confirmed his claim: "Truth." she said, her unseeing eyes facing Sokka. At this, Sokka slowly felt his anger ebb away. _Shouldn't I feel angry that this kid was in love with MY SISTER?_, a particularly vocal part of the Water Tribe boy's subconsciousness screamed at him. _But if he loved Katara... then he would have tried his hardest. Then, perhaps... He's as broken about the whole thing as I am,_ he surmised. Aang just started into Sokka's eyes, all fear and nervousness having disappeared from them. It was as if he'd completely jettisoned his self-preservation instincts. Sokka picked up on this uncanny, sudden boldness. Toph sensed the low tension between the two boys. Something had to give. She just didn't expect Sokka's next words. "You... you're just as hurt as I am, aren't you?" he asked, his voice breathy. Aang just nodded, a lone tear streaming down his face. "I... I'm sorry." Aang said quietly, bowing his head to the older boy as he kept his cross-legged stance. "I tried to help... but I failed. I can only hope that... That she pulled through." he continued. "I just hope... that we can _try_ to move on, for now." he finished, his voice maintaining a newfound element of dignity. Sokka regarded the boy for a few seconds, taking in his words. "Alright. And Aang... I'm sorry, too." Sokka replied finally, his apology taking on a dual meaning. The older boy just smiled thinly at the Avatar. Toph waited, breath abated. Then, the tension broke when both boys got up, and simply embraced. It was brief, and it wasn't compromising. The early morning breeze softly buffeted the two boys. As they pulled back, both boys saw a blur of green before they were slammed into by Toph, causing all three to tumble to the ground. She embraced them roughly, her small frame exerting a surprising amount of energy. Perhaps in another time, another day, this would have bothered the two boys. But they understood this... way of expressing her emotions.

After a few seconds they slowly untangled themselves from each other, and sat huddled near each other, the fire having died out sometime during Aang's recounting of the events in Ba Sing Se- neither three of them had noticed it go out. Sokka gave Aang another meaningful look, trying to convey his newfound acceptance of the younger boy. Aang smiled lightly in response, his grey eyes somewhat regaining their light. But not _quite_ \- that was understandable. "I... need some time alone." Aang said finally, the boy pushing himself off of the ground, turning his back to his friends. His left hand involuntarily went to his wound, an action that hadn't gone unnoticed by Toph and Sokka. "Aang, you sure you'll be okay?" Toph asked, sensing the boy's heartbeat jump slightly. "Uh, yeah. Just need to focus my thoughts." he replied, slowly walking away from their encampment, following the bank of the river downstream. An unspoken agreement had formed between the three. If the Avatar was to triumph in the war, he would need to focus on his loss first- alone.

The morning sun seemed to be dimmer than usual.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I appreciate your reviews! The next chapter sees additional exposition, and the focal point will be on our Zuko and Katara :)


	5. Crimson Flashes

Zuko knew very well that even the slightest chance of him being recognized could put both him and his newfound friend in jeopardy. Alas, he had gone back to his peasant ways- hiding in an alleyway as he dispatched Katara with his pouch of coins to purchase some clothes for them. The two had walked some several thousand feet through the Lower Ring of the city in search of a market or store. When they had come upon the open-air market and spotted the stall selling some clothing (Zuko had called it peasant rags, earning him a light whack from Katara, after which he aquiesced), they quickly decided on a single change of clothes to replace their worn and tattered ones. As Katara left Zuko kneeling behind a wooden barrel, she pondered the decisions she had made in the past 24 hours to end up here with Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation. But such a moniker didn't quite fit the Zuko that she had discovered below Ba Sing Se, and had learned to trust just this morning. This Zuko seemed protective. _Kind_ , she thought to herself as she walked to the stall. A silk banner identified the vendor as 'Kai-Li Fabrics'.

She tried her best to ignore the stares of the locals around her at her disheveled appearance. In front of her a wizened old, bearded man sat in the stall. Despite clearly noticing her lack of suitable clothing, he didn't comment- perhaps because the girl he saw was _at_ a clothing store. "How may I help you?" he asked, his voice betraying what could have been a sandbender's accent. "Hi, uh, I'd like..." she paused to take in the collection of clothing that the stall had to offer. "One male and one female robes set," she began, pointing at pre-wrapped sets of clothing on the table before her, "two straw hats," she continued, smirking slightly at the reaction that Zuko was probably going to have to such 'degrading' accessories, "and... a set of underwrappings, please." she finished, blushing as she made her final request. "No problem, young lady." the man said cheerfully and went to collect the items and a simple fabric bag. Once he had gathered and packed everything he tallied up the final cost. "That will be 28 silver coins." he told Katara. "Alright," she replied, fishing into the coin pouch for coins. Then, she realized that there _weren't_ 28 silver coins. There didn't even appear to be 10. Looking into the pouch more carefully, she realized that it was mostly comprised of gold coins. Lots of gold coins. She found herself rather flustered. She quickly fished out two gold coins, mumbling something about 'no silver coins', and 'change'. The man merely chuckled, and gave two silver coins back to Katara. "Have a good day, young lady." he said, bowing his head slightly. "You too." she said quickly, returning the bow before hurrying off with the bag.

After about half a minute of walking she came upon the alleyway where Zuko was hiding. She walked into it and turned around the barrel where she had left her friend. The sight that greeted her, however, was quite unexpected. Zuko was awkwardly scratching the head of... _Momo_! The older boy turned his head left to sheepishly smile at Katara, shrugging awkwardly. "I-I recognized him as the lemur that always stuck with your group." he said, glancing at the creature beneath his right hand as if it would explode at any instant. "Oh, uh... he's Momo. Our flying lemur," Katara explained. "I don't know _how_ he got separated from the rest of... my friends..." she continued, her voice lowering at the last part, "but I'm glad he's here!" she finished, trying to hide the unwelcome feelings that had resurfaced just then. Zuko didn't miss these cues however, and his gaze softened slightly. Katara slid down the brick wall and opened the fabric bag. Momo leapt from the ground and into the bag, chittering quietly. Katara chuckled lightly at this, but somehow, Zuko knew, she was feeling a bit down. Perhaps it was the way her shoulders had slightly slouched, or her muted gaze, but Zuko knew he wanted to comfort her. So he did the one thing he felt was appropriate in this situation. He pushed himself closer to the girl, wrapping his right arm around her shoulders.

Katara initially tensed, before relaxing, relishing the modest embrace. The boy gently squeezed her right shoulder blade, his palm warming slightly. "T-Thank you..." she murmured, as she began removing items from the bag, in the process lifting Momo out alongside the female robes set, the lemur leaping onto Zuko's shoulder as soon as it got the chance to do so. Next, she pulled out the male robes set (Zuko hummed appreciatively at the dark purple shade that had been applied to the fabrics- it was a better choice than just white, or green), and finally the straw hats. Zuko groaned, somewhat light-heartedly, at seeing the straw hats. "Too peasant-like?" Katara quipped, suppressing a giggle. "N-No, I mean..." he sighed, cupping his face using his left hand. "... Yeah..." he admitted, a red tint appearing on his alabaster complexion. "B-But it's okay... we're peasants right now, I guess." he continued, grinning at his friend, who returned the gesture graciously. She then looked at the robes set that she had gotten for herself. "Um..." she began, looking between Zuko and the package in her hands. Zuko immediately got the message, his cheeks flaring up with embarassment. "S-Sorry!" he stammered, and moved to the other side of the barrel, crouching away from her. Katara merely giggled, her own cheeks gaining a rosy tint, as she took the paper bag containing the new underwrappings with her as well.

As Katara began changing, Zuko merely fiddled with his fingers, with Momo curiously gazing at the former enemy. It was a habit of his, to distract from something that made him feel awkward or uncomfortable. Then, he felt a piece of fabric make contact with his jet-black, wild hair, and heard Momo's renewed chittering. Looking up, Zuko felt he could shrivel up and die- it was Katara's underwrappings! He cringed into himself, eventually working up the courage to use his finger to quickly nudge the underwrappings off of his head and safely onto the top of the wooden barrel. He heard her shuffling around, probably changing her clothes. A particular image floated into his head, and he hastily dispelled it, mortified about what he had just mentally pictured. _I'm NOT supposed to think about friends like_ _that!_ he screamed to himself silently. He made a move to begin unpacking his own robes set, but then he realized why he was here in the first place- his side of the barrel was close to the street, and Katara's wasn't. He patiently waited for Katara to finish swapping out her clothing, thinking hard about feeding turtleducks, which was the most innocent thing he could envision in his head at this moment. After what Zuko considered to be an agonizing amount of time, he heard the younger girl's voice: "I'm done." she called, prompting Zuko to get up and walk over to the other side of the barrel. When his eyes met Katara's clothes, he smiled appreciatively. She had picked a light purple set of robes, which provided an interesting contrast to his own dark purple clothing. They silently swapped places, as it was now Katara's turn to wait as Zuko changed into the new set of robes that she had purchased.

Momo left Zuko's side and crawled over to the younger girl, the lemur pausing before leaping into her arms. "Huh..." she remarked, her blue irises gazing into the green beads of her animal companion. _When a lemur and a firebender are more loyal to me then my friends- wait no, the firebender IS my friend. Momo too, I guess. I gain one friend and lose three?_ She stroked Momo's ears gently, her hands exceedingly gentle.

Pondering this change in circumstances, her thoughts drifted. She imagined a pair of striking amber irises gazing into her own cerulean blues, providing... was it comfort? Yes, she imagined comfort, but she also imagined something more. _Warmth_. Something that, in many aspects, had been missing from her life for the last six years. A lump grew in her throat, and her breathing started to speed up.

 _Breathe, Katara. Breathe._ She vaguely heard rapid chittering, and a pair of scurrying footsteps, but she couldn't bring herself to focus.

 _Breathe,_ she thought, no, she _recalled_. Her vision slowly turned black, the last thing she remembered was seeing the beige of the cobbled streets transition into the morning sky.

 _Breathe,_ her consciousness whispered, yet there was no way to do so. In the pitch-black vacuum of her psyche, there was the slowing beat of her heart, the creeping dread of a memory burned into her very soul resurfacing; heat, screams, the distinct scent of salt, they all swirled together into one horrific cacophony of reminiscence. She felt a familiar, yet somehow _dark_ light reaching for her, its tendrils pulling her back in time...

_"Breathe, my Katara, breathe."_

When she opened her eyes, she found herself... home. The Southern Water Tribe. That explained the ice, the familiar walls of her abode. But... something felt wrong. She was... _smaller?_ She felt scared. Hurt. Broken. _Shattered_. Blood dripped from her hands, her eyes blurry with tears; she found herself staring into familiar, yet unreachable blue orbs. Eyes that had lost their light. Katara's lower lip wobbled, tears freely streaming down her cheeks. "M-Mom... Mommy?" she whispered, her small hands vainly palming the charred tissue that was once her mother's skin. Her fingernails were stained with the crimson liquid that had once enabled life. "Mama!" Katara cried, the little girl bursting into tears, the gravity of her loss beginning to truly dawn on her. Katara wasn't acquainted with death. She had heard of it from stories told late at night, tales from morose village elders observing the remembrance of a lost generation; a lost lifetime. Though she hadn't known death, Katara knew right then that it could only be death that would take her mother away from her. "Please come back..." she croaked, her whimpered request an impossible plea to Tui and La; spirits who were unwilling to interfere in the cycle of life and death, spirits who had accepted the inevitability of human atrocities. As her own cerulean seas gazed upon the ruby-tinged horror that was Kya's demise, something changed within her. Something broke. Her very soul was corrupted, _shattered_. As her quivering lips made contact with the charred, degenerate matter upon her guardian's neck that once embodied the vibrant nature of her mother's sepia skin, the insidious aftermath of the Fire Nation monster leeched into her pores. She had lived for eight years without mortal knowledge; and now she had been permanently acquainted with it. When the blood pooled out from underneath the older woman's torso and melted around the child's legs, the metallic scent seeped through the layers of her clothing and into her skin.

When she heard the flap at the entrance of their home rustle, and heard the footsteps practically sprinting towards her halt immediately, Katara knew that her sorrow would no longer be a solitary one; though her own desolation would surely be magnitudes higher than anyone else's. _"Katara!"_ her father's voice boomed, his arms latching around his daughter's frame, desperate to shield her from damage that had already been inflicted. _"Breathe, Katara, breathe. My Katara, breathe, my Katara, breathe, Papa's here, my angel,"_ her father whispered into her ear, even as his own frame shook with every word enunciated, tears beginning to flow freely down his visage. As she grasped onto Hakoda's parka, Katara left her mother's blood onto the fabric, staining it with the evidence of the cruel obscenity that had befallen Kya. But he could never know, Katara thought to herself. He would _never_ know the true horror of his wife's death, for Katara had _absorbed_ the horror. _"Katara!"_ a faint voice called from far away. As the young girl cried her very strength out, she felt her consciousness drift- a welcome respite from the horror that was her reality.

 _Katara, wake_ up, the vacuum called out, once more opening a dark, lightless tunnel through her warped, twisted psyche.

 _Please, for the love of Agni, wake up,_ she heard again, but this time she swore she recognized that voice. Wait, _Agni_?

"Katara, please!" Zuko called out, prompting Katara to open her eyes. The first thing she saw was amber. Black hair. Pale skin. Fire Nation. Her blue oceans hardened, the sorrow of six years of loss prompting the appearance of water shards from thin air, prompting Momo to screech; the lemur had been at Katara's side throughout her panic attack and flashback. Zuko knew what was about to occur a split second before it did, and he reacted accordingly- by briefly lifting the girl up with his left arm, and using the fingers on right hand hand to stab them at the base of her neck, just above her back. He had learnt this pressure point from Ty Lee, and he hoped that it would work, for both his sake _and_ for the sake of the waterbender. The shards, which were aimed at Zuko's face and neck, dissipated immediately. Katara felt the familiar, dreadful sensation of utter helplessness and weakness surge through her frame, as her bending was rendered unusable. As the firebender's palm approached Katara's face, all semblances of composure completely dissipated. "I-I'm sorry, p-please don't h-hurt me..." she whimpered frantically, her hyperventilation further exacerbated by the pure terror that had gripped the waterbender. "Mama, sorry, sorry, sorry..." she continued, her eyes shut tightly, as she expected the End to swallow her at any moment. When the palm that met her cheek didn't burn, but merely caressed, her rambling vanished and became replaced by uncontrollable sobs. "Shhh, I know..." Zuko whispered, his own orbs of liquid gold failing to keep in the teardrops that were beginning to fall, some hitting Katara's torso, others splashing against the ground. After several minutes, where Zuko whispered sweet nothings into his broken friend's ears, taking care to not startle her anymore than she already had been, the girl's crying quieted, for the most part ceasing. Her frame continued to tremble, but at least her eyes were open once more, apprehensively gazing into Zuko's own orbs. He decided to take initiative and ease Katara's frame up against the wall, making sure to do so slowly and gently. He oriented himself so he was sitting next to her. After a few moments, Katara leaned against Zuko's right shoulder, easily pressing up against him. "... sorry..." she finally mumbled, her voice dripping with guilt and sadness, and accompanied by her sniffles. "That's okay..." he replied back quietly, adding: "You did nothing wrong, alright?" There was no response for a few seconds, but eventually Katara nodded once. "That's good." he cooed, taking his right hand and slowly bringing it underneath her chin, his callused fingers caressing the soft, wet skin gently. Momo, who had witnessed this most unfortunate state of affairs transpire had ceased chittering. Being the perceptive lemur he was, he slowly crawled up Katara's torso, perching on her right shoulder. He began rubbing his nose against the girl's ear, eliciting a slight smile from her.

After a beat, Katara spoke. "I... I want you to know that I _trust_ you, Zuko. I... I need you to know that. Because..." she paused, seeming unsure of herself. Upon feeling the older boy's fingers begin to draw circles just above the small of the back, she picked up the courage to continue speaking. "N-No one's truly made me feel this way... Made me feel... protected. Made me feel this... this _warmth_. Not since my..." she gulped, tears threatening to pool out of her eyes once more. "... since my mother was alive." she managed. Zuko instinctively brought the smaller girl closer to his body, his heartbeat fluttering at the words. His hand moved up her back, his fingers eventually meeting the pressure point that had deprived Katara of her bending. "Hold still, please." he whispered into the waterbender's ear, to which which she complied. His fingers began to massage the point, his eyes closed in concentration as he recalled the precise manner to ease the chi path which he had disturbed. Momo observed the firebender's actions with fascination, noting the reverential manner in which he performed his duty. After a few minutes, Zuko felt content with his progress. "Try bending now." he instructed. Katara nodded, and she furrowed her eyebrows as she strained to pull water from the air, her fingers contorting in an effort to do so. Eventually, she managed the feat, which was nevertheless difficult for her. "Alright, that's good... I got scared that I took away your bending permanently for a second," he half-joked, earning him a light rap on his shoulder from Katara, who grinned at him, beads of sweat having manifested on her forehead. This brought a smile to Zuko's own face, for he was proud that he had managed to deal with the situation in the manner that he had done so without any negative consequences. There was of course, another reason for this mood. He had just been compared to by Katara to her own _mother_. Under normal circumstances, such a parallel would have drawn a hearty chuckle from the boy. But this was different. Her mother was gone. Ripped from her by the Fire Nation's imperialist ambitions. If she saw that distinct, protective, normally parental warmth and comfort in _him_ , the _Prince of the Fire Nation_ , then that _had_ to count for something, right?

"I'm glad you're back to Earth, Katara." Zuko jested while rotating his finger next to his head, smirking at Katara's flustered blush. "U-Uhm..." she paused for a moment, thinking about a reply. "I'm... glad you're here, with me?" she managed. "I... I _am_ glad you're here." she repeated, this time more confident. She looked into Zuko's golden orbs once more, taking in every detail, every sparkle, every innate curve in his irises. They were intense, yet comforting. They were warm, yet provided cool relief. They could hurt, but they could _heal_. Katara chewed on her lower lip, then braced herself. She hesitated for just a moment, before raising her right hand to cup Zuko's face- specifically his scar. The older boy tensed, the smile receding from his face. Her thumb stroked the jagged, permanently damaged tissue, her palm pressing into his left cheek. Momo followed Katara's hands, the lemur making some kind of mournful noise upon fully realizing the severity of the scar; Momo had only ever seen it as a means to identify the firebender as the enemy, but now when the boy was on _their_ side, the lemur had a chance to see it for what it really was- a horrific disfigurement.

She traced the edges of the scar, noticing how the upper portion of the injury was comprised of tendrils jutting out from the center of the wound. There were four of these tendrils facing upwards, and one, thicker, shorter one facing somewhat sideways, the offshoot ending just at the edge of Zuko's left nostril. Five offshoots. One for each finger, Katara realized, horror slowly creeping into her being, that familiar insidious feeling crawling up her back. A metallic taste was manifested on her tongue, as she adjusted her hand to try to match the outline of the scar. Zuko realized what was happening too late, Katara's widening eyes and small gasp indicators of her terrible realization. "W-Wait, Katara, it's not what it seems..." his words died on his tongue when he saw Katara shaking her head, tears once again threatening to spill out of her tearducts. Momo _knew_ that this was a tense situation, and he therefore leapt from Katara's shoulder and onto the ground; the lemur's beady green eyes looking between the waterbender and firebender rapidly. When Katara's fingers and thumb were fully extended, she juxtaposed her hand over the scar, confirming her suspicion- though her hand was smaller than that of whoever had done this to Zuko, it was a close enough match to confirm the fact that _a hand had burnt off half of Zuko's face. Someone had personally, deliberately done this_ _to Zuko_. Any excuses that Zuko had vanished upon him seeing the look of utter fury marring Katara' visage. " _Who?_ " Katara whispered, rage coursing through her veins. "Uhh... I-I don't know w-what you're talking about-" Zuko began, but was silenced by the tears that were now freely pouring down her face. _Oh, Agni_ he thought to himself. "... Zuko?" she whispered, inching closer to her friend. After several seconds, Zuko sighed. "... It's best that you know the whole story." he replied finally. Upon seeing the thinly veiled skepticism appear on the younger girl's face, he continued: "I won't lie to you again. Do you trust me?" he asked, his voice quavering. They both knew that the entire basis of their friendship, the perfect storm of circumstances that had led to such a friendship developing; it all relied on waterbender's answer. Naturally, Katara understood this. She took a deep breath, and replied gravely: "Yes."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't mind the cliffhanger at the end lol. Really curious to see everyone's feedback!


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